Fire Book Two

The story is a work of fiction. Some of the people named herein are real persons and celebrities in their own right, but their mention or involvement in the plot is strictly fictional and purely for the purposes of the story and in no way implies any personal or sexual preferences, ideas or beliefs, on the part of the real person of that name.  No inferences are implied or intended whatsoever, to the persons mentioned, as a result of this work.

From Chapter 5:

It didn't take long to clear through Customs at all, since Prince Harry stood watching the officials, and the Harrises showed their diplomatic passports.  They virtually cleared them all through without checking anyone, even Neal!  As it was only a short distance to their plane, they walked across the tarmac.  As they neared the plane, however, there was the sound of racing engines and squealing tires accompanied by blue and red flashing lights.  Tom's immediate thought was that Neal had managed to do something!

But Chris nudged Harry and shouted something and both he and Harry took off at the run...

Chapter 6

Everyone watched, in awe, as Prince Harry and Chris charged toward a lone figure, not that far away, with a camera raised.  Since the man was facing the plane, he didn't see the two charging avengers closing in on him.  He was further distracted by the sirens and lights of the rapidly approaching police cars.  When he realized the police were after him, he turned and finally saw the two young men running at him from the other direction, and took off as fast as he could.  Prince Harry, being quite fit, took the guy down with a perfect flying rugby tackle.

They landed heavily on the concrete.  The man acted as a cushion for Harry, just as Harry had planned.  Chris arrived and grabbed the strap of the man's camera, ripping it from around the man's neck and giving it a mighty swing and release.  The group by the plane watched with open mouths, as the camera made a graceful arc about sixty feet in the air and came to a shattering crash landing not far from the watching boys.  Andy looked down, when he felt something hit his shoe.  He bent down and came up holding the camera's memory stick. 

Neal said, laughing, "Another one for your collection!"  Everyone was laughing, as they climbed the stairs to the plane to get a better view of the action on the ground, as police rushed from their cars.  The boys were laughing and cheering, as the police officer at first pulled the prince off the man, as if Harry were the bad guy.  Then it became obvious that he realized he had just manhandled the Prince.  The reaction was quite funny, even from as far away as they were.  

Chris was talking to the officer and pointing to the smashed camera and the boys. 

Neal looked at the man, as he was dragged to his feet and handcuffed.  "That's the same guy!  Jeez!"

Tom looked again.  "How on Earth can that be?  I'm sure Reg said he is still in the lock up."

Linda, who shifted with the two babies she was carrying, said, "I'm sure James will get to the bottom of things."

Nick grinned, "My mate 'Philip' will let us know."  His attempt at a British accent earned him a slap on the arm from Martha and giggles from the boys.

Once the man was, none too gently put in a police car and driven off, Chris and Harry approached the plane and waved for Kit to join them in a final farewell.  Kit and Tym had a very emotional hug, and everyone hugged Chris and Harry, even the adults.  It was time to board the plane.  All the boys took seats on the side of the plane facing Harry, Chris and Kit.  The Captain entered the cabin and explained that half of them needed to move to the other side to balance the weight.  A quick scowl from Tom, Lee and Jacob had the boys shuffling to the other side.  The Captain smiled and returned to the cockpit. 

The plane's engines came to life, and soon it was moving down the taxiway, then down the runway, and heading for home.  Tom noticed that a few things were changed in the airplane.  The seats were new and very comfortable recliners that would lie nearly flat for sleeping.  About half the seats were missing, so there was quite a lot more room.  Above each seat was a drop-down LCD screen with a headset jack and USB port.  Tom turned on the screen.  'Philip' appeared and pointed to the arm of the seat.  It was hinged, and opened, revealing a small storage compartment.  In there was a headset.  Tom put it on and plugged it into the USB port.

'Hello, Tom.'

"No 'sir'?"

'No, sir.'

"Ah, back to normal."

'I doubt that very seriously.'

"Good point."

'Thank you.'

"I like the changes.  You've been busy."

'Money talks.'

Tom did not say, 'And so do smart ass computers,' although he wanted to.  "We are in the air and headed home."

'I am tracking you with GPS.  Your flight should be about nine hours, arriving at Pittsburgh International Airport at two o'clock this afternoon.  Oliver will be meeting you with the bus.  The Phoenix staff has planned a very nice reception for all of you for dinner this evening.'

"I'm sure we will enjoy that.  Do remind everyone we will be very tired and think it is late at night, by dinner time."

'They are aware of that.  The Phoenix boys are thrilled with the results of the concert and want to thank Neal, Brian, Mitch and Travis.  What I have been told about should be very nice.'

"Thank you, 'Philip'.  Let me know when Leo is awake."

'Do you mean awake, as in no longer sleeping, or awake, as in able to be civil and carry on a decent conversation?'

"Awake, as in, finished his second cup of coffee."

'Will do, Tom.'  The screen went blank.

*  *  *

The flight went as well as could be expected.  Lee was glad there was lots of room for the boys to move around and use up some energy.  Lou was happy to draw with the new colored pencils that Luke had given him.  Andy was pestering 'Philip' to let him talk to Jimmy.  Mitch, Travis, Neal and Brian spent a good deal of time talking about the Phoenix Youth Foundation (PYF) and what to do with the rather huge amount of donations that had been coming in. 

Travis commented, "Guys, I feel really guilty that we did all this as a cover story for getting that vault emptied and sent home."

Mitch hugged his brother.  "And it worked really well."

"That's just it.  The Queen said I am the Tzar and all that stuff is mine. It's just that it is worth a bunch, and we covered me getting that by making a huge amount for the PYF."

Neal had heard enough.  "Jeez, Travis.  Look, Chameleon and Queen and everybody thought it was a worthy cause.  I mean, a lot of people did.  There were a few big contributions, but most of them were less than a hundred.  And there is a huge number of small donations that are of amounts of ten dollars or less, most likely from kids like us.  They all think what we are doing is important.  Now we have to prove that they were right to trust us."

Brian added, "If we had just come for the concert the results would have been the same.  I have the feeling that 'James' and 'Philip' were going to make all this happen, one way or another.  I sure am glad we had the chance to meet the people we did, and I sure hope we can make this trip again.  I thought Harry was really kewl."

Neal got things back on track.  "Okay, now we need to be thinking about what we can do to help kids.  I got an idea for one thing..."

It was a long flight, and everyone was glad when the Pilot indicated that they were beginning their approach to Pittsburgh International Airport.  A weary group descended from the airplane and headed for customs.  The Harris family all went to one agent.  Lee handed their Diplomatic Passports to the agent.  He had never seen them before, and called his supervisor.  The supervisor questioned the validity of the family's status as English Diplomats, since they claimed American citizenship. 

Lee calmly waited, as the supervisor was on the phone.  Finally, he had had enough.  "Sir, if there is a problem, I would recommend contacting the British Consul or Embassy.  Prince Harry gave us those this morning, on direction of the Queen herself.  I could contact her using my laptop, if it would help."

"The Queen of England?  You expect me to believe that?"

Lee sighed, handed Matthew to Andy and opened his laptop.  Sure enough, 'Philip' was right there.  "Good afternoon, 'Philip'.  Could you contact 'James', and see if her Majesty would have a word with the customs agent."

As the Watkins Enterprises logo appeared, the supervisor's phone buzzed.  "Oh, my, God!  Yes sir, Mister Secretary.  Right away."

"Never mind, 'James', thank you all the same.  Please let everyone know that we arrived safe and sound."

'Certainly, sir.'

Lee closed the laptop and smiled at the Supervisor.

"Sir, I am sorry for the mix-up.  Please pass through.  Welcome home, sir."

They exited the terminal building, and there was a crowd there to greet them.  It looked as if everyone from Haven and Phoenix House were there.  The weary travelers got into the bus, and they were off to the Phoenix House.  It looked like a small parade; the bus was followed by three vans, all full of excited kids.

At the Phoenix House there was a big welcome home banner and balloons everywhere.  It was a wonderful party, good old American pizza and lots of soda.  There was ice cream and a huge sheet cake with 'Haven 1'on it.  'Philip' and Haven's pastry chef were at work.

After things had settled down, it was time to return home.  Oliver drove the bus and dropped, off the Haven crowd first, then continued on to take the Harris family home.  Jimmy had permission to go home with them, for a sleep-over with Andy.  Linda was still not completely comfortable with them, but she did feel that, if they were in her home, she had some control of the situation.  Lee smiled and let his wife think what she wanted.

Author's Note:
This is just the beginning of the chapter.  I wanted to get this posted along with Love At First Bite Chapter 106.  CrackerWriter and I want to thank all the readers that have written to us about our crossover.  Don't worry there is more coming.
            Str8mayb

Editor's Notes: When I received this chapter, Str8mayb informed me that he didn't want to get this chapter back with 8,000 words.  I was thinking that I should make sure that it contained 8,001 words, but alas, I couldn't come up with that many.  I am glad to see that everyone got home safely.

I certainly hope that Linda doesn't get her panties in too much of a knot, over the relationship between Andy and Jimmy.  I am sure we will find out more about what is going on, after everyone has a chance to get some rest.  That includes our intrepid author.

I think the cross over worked out really well.  Don't forget, there are still some loose ends to tie up.  I have no idea when that will happen, but I am sure it will, eventually.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Associate Editor's Notes:

Well, the gang is finally coming home after their exciting European trip.  Poor Travis is really feeling guilty about his sudden wealth.  Hopefully the gang can convince him that he deserves it.  And, since we know that he has a kind and generous heart, I'm sure that he will use it well to benefit needy kids.

Andy and Jimmy are finally getting back together.  Linda is being a worried mother, but maybe Lee can convince her to let them be.  He understands the depth of feelings between the boys, and I think he can be counted on to run interference for them with Linda.
What's happened to 'Philip'?  'James' must have rubbed off on him.  He seems so much more pleasant and cooperative now.  That's not a bad thing, but I'm going to miss our crusty, cantankerous curmudgeon.

Arli J

Fort Chief Editor's Notes:

            This is an interesting snippet of a chapter; I am reserving further comment until I see the rest. :)

TSL